(MENAFN- Palestine News Network )
Bethlehem / PNN /
In a report released this morning on World Refugee Day, Dr. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), revealed that 136,000 individuals have been killed by the Israeli Occupation forces.
Since the Nakba in 1948, according to the report, the Palestinian and Arab communities have suffered the loss of over 136,000 martyrs both inside and outside Palestine. The Al-Aqsa Intifada, beginning on September 29th, 2000, claimed about 46,500 lives until April 30th, 2024.
The Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip, which started on October 7th, 2023, has resulted in over 37,500 martyrs, including more than 15,162 children and 10,018 women, along with 147 journalists.
In addition, more than 7,000 citizens, primarily women and children, are missing in Gaza. The West Bank has seen 532 martyrs since October 7th, 2023. Furthermore, the ongoing Israeli war has displaced approximately 2 million citizens from their homes in the Gaza Strip.
Refugee crisis
UNRWA records as of January 2022 show that there are about 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees, comprising over 40% of the global Palestinian population, which totals around 14.6 million. Of these, 2.5 million reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian refugees account for 15% of the West Bank's population and 27% of Gaza Strip's population. In Arab countries, 40% of Palestinian refugees are in Jordan, 8% in Lebanon, and 10% in Syria. These figures represent the minimum number of refugees, excluding those displaced post-1949 and during the June 1967 war.
Harsh living conditions
The 2017 data indicate that refugees make up 42.2% of the population in the State of Palestine, with 26.3% in the West Bank and a staggering 66.1% in the Gaza Strip. The demographic and social characteristics between refugees and non-refugees show minimal differences.
The illiteracy rate among refugees in the West Bank is 1.9% compared to 2.3% for non-refugees, and 1.7% among refugees in the Gaza Strip versus 2.0% for non-refugees.
Unemployment remains a critical issue, with 2022 rates reaching 47% among refugees and 42% among non-refugees in the Gaza Strip, compared to 14% and 13%, respectively, in the West Bank.
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